In the missile attack last week on the command center of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the port of Sevastopol, 33 other officers, including a senior admiral of Moscow, were killed in Crimea, according to a claim made by Ukrainian special forces on Monday.
However, Moscow has made no statement to confirm or deny that Admiral Viktor Sokolov, the Black Sea Fleet commander and one of Russia’s top navy officials, had died.
According to Ukraine, a missile attack killed a Russian Black Sea navy commander
However, Moscow-installed authorities in Sevastopol were taking further steps to resist Ukraine’s intensifying attacks on Crimea, a critical region acting as a base from which Russia has conducted the majority of its air operations against Ukraine during the 19-month conflict.
If verified, Sokolov’s murder would be one of Kyiv’s most significant counterattacks against Russia’s 2014 takeover of Crimea from Ukraine.
“34 officers, including the Russian Black Sea Fleet commander, killed following the attack on the fleet’s headquarters. 105 other occupiers suffered injuries. On the messaging platform Telegram, Ukraine’s special forces declared that the headquarters building could not be repaired.
As each side has occasionally overstated enemy fatalities in the fight and said little about its own losses, it was not immediately clear how Ukraine’s Special Forces counted the dead and injured in the raid, according to Reuters.
After first stating that one serviceman had been killed, the Russian defense ministry then changed its statement to say that one serviceman was still missing after the strike. Five missiles were shot down by air defenses, the ministry’s statement also stated.
Attacks by Ukraine in the Black Sea and on the Crimean Peninsula have increased, and they’ve started deploying missiles in addition to assault drones.
According to Kyiv, eliminating the Russian Black Sea navy would help hasten the war’s conclusion.
Sevastopol’s newly installed Russian governor called a conference on Monday to discuss enhancing defense and attack warning systems that would better reflect the gravity of previous Ukrainian strikes.
Russian media described the governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, as saying to the government, “We understand that we have moved into a new situation that requires a systemic response.”
“Earlier, unmanned vehicle strikes were made against us and our military… Now that everything has changed, we must be ready to face this challenge.
